…As rights group seeks urgent intervention
BY TINA CHINYERE
A rights and environmental advocacy organization on the aegis of ‘Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria)’, has called for the urgent intervention of the Rivers State government and members of the public over the alleged detention of a one-year-old baby and grandmother at the Meridian Hospital, D-Line, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The alleged detention of the baby and its grandmother was as a result of unpaid medical bills.
Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, who made the call following a public appeal by Dr. Tari Bozimo, who described the situation as “tragic and ongoing humanitarian crisis” that required urgent attention.
Bozimo noted that the unfortunate incident began when a 36-year-old woman, Mrs. Chiamaka, a registered patient with Meridian Hospital situated on Ikwerre Road, went into premature labour at seven months and was later transferred to the hospital’s D-Line headquarters, where she gave birth to a preterm baby, but later died from post-delivery complications.
However, the premature baby, who was kept in an incubator for four months survived, but upon discharge, the hospital allegedly issued a bill of ₦6 million for which the family was unable to pay in full.
It was gathered that the traumatised family having lost the mother of the baby, was only pay ₦1.4 million, leaving a balance of ₦4.6 million.
YEAC-Nigeria and the family claimed that for over a year and one month, the hospital refused to release both the baby and the grandmother, who had been the baby’s caregiver during the hospital stay, over the unpaid balance.
All pleas for a structured, instalment-based payment plan, was rejected by the management of the hospital even as the baby and the elderly woman are kept in inhumane and deplorable conditions, a situation described as a gross violation of their human rights.
Dr. Bozimo therefore tasked the media, civil society organisations, and relevant government agencies to investigate the matter and intervene to secure the release of the baby and the grandmother.
She emphasised that the issue transcends money, as it touches on human dignity, justice, and compassion.
YEAC-Nigeria also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and humanitarian organizations to assist the grieving family in offsetting the medical bill.
Efforts to obtain the hospital’s response to the allegations were unsuccessful a at the time of this report.
